ecar safety

As electric vehicles gain popularity people may be wondering about their safety and reliability. Extensive research and testing has been done to ensure that electric vehicles on today’s market are safe to drive.

Car safety

All electric cars are subject to the same vehicle approval tests as diesel and petrol cars. Usually the battery in ecars is placed under the floor and so lowers the centre of gravity. This gives the car better handling characteristics, making it easier and safer to drive.

Electric cars are also subject to the same crash testing as petrol and diesel cars. Unlike petrol and diesel cars, pure electric vehicles don’t carry gasoline, which can potentially catch fire and explode during collision.

Electric vehicles have various safety disconnects built in. These include a main contactor, a circuit breaker, and fusible links. For example, in most electric vehicles the impact sensors that deploy airbags will also cut off supply of electricity from the battery, so for drivers and those responding to collisions, there should be no additional safety risk. The safety disconnects can also be used to manually disarm the battery pack circuit in the case of tools dropped across battery terminals or some other situation that causes a surge of current.

Charging safety

The safest way to charge an electric car at home is to use a professionally installed home charging point with its own circuit. An outdoor socket should be properly protected against rain. Extension leads should not be used, as even uncoiled they are not intended to carry full rated current for lengthy periods.

To reduce wear and tear on any plug it is always better to have the electricity disconnected before removing it from a socket. The ecar charging lead should always be plugged into the car before connecting the cable to the charging point. Similarly the cable should be disconnected first from the charging point before being disconnected from the car.

Remember, never leave a charging cable trailing dangerously on the pavement or roadway. Always be aware of the potential trip hazard to pedestrians and other road users.

The public charge points are designed with all the electrical safety features to protect the public and the ecar driver.